Bengals quarterback Javon Smith scrambles out of the pocket.
Dillon Raines (43) and Josh Wilkes (52) combine on the tackle.
ROCK HILL – First year Bengal head coach Dan Morgan’s debut was spoiled Friday night as Blythewood fell 47-24 on the road to the South Pointe Stallions. The Stallions prodded and poked at the weaknesses of the Bengals defense. Suffering from Injuries and cramps throughout out the game, the Bengals defense allowed 536 yards of total offense. Despite the loss, Morgan views this game as a stepping stone of improvement for the Bengals. Expecting some first game mistakes, Morgan understood coming in that their first game wouldn’t be easy.
“It’s tough and they were on the field a lot so they got a little worn down,” Morgan said. “It’s our first game and their second. We gained a lot of experience from tonight.”
After a Stallions offensive fumble, the Bengals had no problems finding the end zone very quickly on their first possession. Quarterback Javon Smith connected with wide receiver Lynard Jamison for a 41-yard touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead. Greg Huegel added the extra point.
Holding the Stallions to a field goal on their next possession, the momentum shifted in the Stallions favor. Two of Smith’s passes were picked off and returned touchdowns – one for 74 yards and another for 40 yards. That allowed the Stallions to take a 16-7 lead. Smith finished the night 14-of-26 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns.
With 2:19 left in the first quarter, Stallions quarterback Davonta Blake found a deep Anthony Johnson for an 89-yard touchdown. Kyle Dix added the extra point to extend the Stallions’ lead to 23-10.
Jittery at first, the Bengals’ offense clawed their way back into the game with answers of their own. Followed by Smith’s 28-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Deyon Grayer, Aaron peak took a 93-yard kickoff return for another Bengals touchdown. That allowed to Bengals to cut the Stallion lead to 26-24 at the half.
“I think the best thing was how much we bounced back,” Morgan said. “We kept talking about there was going to be adversity in the game and we gotta always bounce back from it. The kids did and they bounced back.”
In the second half, injuries and cramps continued to plague the Bengals offense as many key players were sidelined. With starters from the offensive line going down, it caused a lot of trouble for the Bengals offense, hampering their efforts to move the ball. Morgan believes that could have been a key factor in the loss, especially playing against a tough Stallion defense.
As a result, the Stallions came out strong, striking for three unanswered touchdowns to extend their lead.
“We’re gonna definitely run a little more because we know we have to get more conditioned,” Morgan said. “You can tell as the game went on we had less offensive linemen to put in. It almost became impossible to protect probably the state’s best defensive line. South Pointe took us out of our bread and butter of what we wanted to do and they are well coached.”
The Bengals plan to revamp from this loss and prepare for this week’s home opener against Lexington High School this Friday night. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. in Blythewood.
BHS SP
FIRST DOWNS 17 24
RUSHES-YARDS 40-59 46-185
PASSING YDS 193 351
C-A-Int-TD 14-27-2-2TD 18-32-1-2TD
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-3
Penalties-Yards 6-54 7-70
Individual Stats
RUSHING: BHS – Javon Smith 21-24; Osei Thomas 5-19; Lynard Jamison 5-11; Dabreon Benson 3-8; Derambez Drinkard 1-1; Joseph Richardson, 5-(-4). SP – J. Brice 25-94; V. Emanuele 8-32; Z. Rodney 1-27; T. Blake 7-22; S. McCullough 3-12; D. Davis 1-2; Q. Hope 1-(-4).
PASSING: BHS – Javon Smith 14-26-2-193; David Israel 0-1-0-0. SP – T. Blake, T. 17-31-1-346; Z. Burris 1-1-0-5.
RECEIVING: BHS – Jacob Rabon 6-49; Lynard Jamison 4-94; Deyon Grayer 2-35; Trae Churn 1-8; Reed Branham 1-7. SP – K. Brandt 8-117; A. Johnson 4-207; D. Davis 3-5; M. McCullough 1-10; J. Brice 1-7; V. Emanuele 1-5.
Scoring Summary:
First Quarter:
BHS – Lynard Jamison 41-pass from Javon Smith. Greg Huegel kick. (10:42)
SP—K. Dix 33 field goal (8:43)
SP – M. Mobley 74 interception return. PAT failed. (7:02)
SP – T. Hinton 40 interception return. Dix kick. (6:39)
BHS – G. Huegel 28 field goal (2:39)
SP – A. Johnson 89 pass from T. Blake Dix kick. (2:19)
BHS – Deyon Grayer 28 pass from J. Smith. Huegel kick. (0:00)
Second Quarter:
SP – Dix 27 field goal (9:07)
BHS – Aaron Peak 93 kickoff return. Huegel kick. (8:54)
Third Quarter:
SP – T. Blake 13 run. Dix kick. (2:38)
Fourth Quarter:
SP – A. Johnson 29 pass from T. Blake. Dix kick. (11:52)
SP – V. Emanuele 6 run. Dix kick. (8:14)
